updated 12:10 pm EDT, Tue August 25, 2009

Group on Cellphone Tumors

A collection of groups dedicated to warning about electromagnetic field effects today published a report it claims should prove that cellphones can create brain tumors. The UK and US organizations behind the study maintain that an Interphone study that has been used to gauge the threat of wireless radiation has been intentionally misrepresented by the phone industry and that the only parts publicly touted have been those that downplay the actual effect of putting a cellphone close to an ear. A "systemic skew" has been in place ever since the Interphone study appeared, according to the activists.

Among the 11 criticisms and 15 reasons of the study are accusations that the industry-funded researchers consciously excluded those who would draw more attention to the risks, such as those who had become sick or died and may have been affected by cellphone use, or youth and younger adults who are allegedly more susceptible to prolonged exposure. Certain types of brain tumors may also have been factored out of the Interphone results.

Those attacking the study don't go so far as to reject cellphone use outright but caution that the dangers may be higher than once thought. The existing cellphone market is a very large "experiment" that's gauging the effects without the knowledge of those in the test, the criticism's author Lloyd Morgan argues.

Defenders of the current, more welcoming attitude to cellphones have previously contended that the actual amount of radiation exposure is low and that phones spend most of their time in pockets or bags, far enough away from the head to avoid creating any kind of long-term damage.

This has been around forever, regardless of what 'new' evidence there is, it's wise to use your head (pun, yep). Use your earphones and speakerphone when you can, especially if you're on the phone all the time. Could this be overboard? Sure, but I know some former cigarette smokers that decided to balk at claims of cancer. As with all things, weigh the risks.

It won't matter if you already have a tumor. The cell companies don't want this even investigated, much less talked about. It doesn't matter to them - you get your tumor later, they get their money now.

the electro-magnetic fields can cause tumors, but its OK to keep them against any other part of your body (where they spend most of the time, anyway). And don't wireless headsets also have electro-magnetic fields?